January 7
1800s *1882 - The National League will continue the practice of using different color patterns on uniforms for the different positions. Third basemen will wear gray and white uniforms, as the blue and white uniforms originally sought were "impossible to obtain." 1900s-1930s *1913 - Future Hall of Fame first baseman Johnny Mize is born in Demorest, Georgia. Known as “The Big Cat,” Mize will hit 359 home runs and will gain election to the Hall in 1981. *1915 - The Detroit Tigers waive Wally Pipp to the New York Yankees. Pipp hit .161 in 12 games, but he'll anchor first base in New York for a decade until Lou Gehrig’s appearance. *1920 - Babe Ruth reacts to the trade in the Boston Evening Standard saying, "Frazee is not good enough to own any ball club, especially one in Boston." *1924: **The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians make a seven-player deal involving star first baseman George "Tioga" Burns. A .328 batter in 1923, Burns joins second baseman Chick Fewster and catcher Al Walter in heading to the Indians, while catcher Steve O’Neill, second baseman Bill Wambsganss, outfielder Joe Connolly and pitcher Danny Boone join the Red Sox. **The Yankees buy the contract of Louisville Colonels star outfielder Earle Combs, who hit .380 last year for Louisville. Colonels owner Bill Kneblekamp gets $50,000, outfielder Elmer Smith and other player, and demands that the Yankees play an exhibition game in Louisville with a guarantee that Babe Ruth is in the lineup. This reportedly nets Kneblekamp an additional $5,000. *1933: **Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis announces that he is cutting his salary by 40 per cent. Landis’ action is a sign of the times during the Depression; most players will have their salaries reduced for the coming season. **The Washington Senators get veteran catcher Luke Sewell from the Cleveland Indians. 1940s-1970s *1945 - In the most violent incident in Cuban baseball history, outfielder Roberto Ortiz of Almendares team attacks umpire Bernardino Rodríguez in a dispute at home plate. Rodriguez is knocked unconscious and Ortiz is suspended for his actions. *1962 - The 61-year-old Three-I League (Class-B) is disbanded by the six remaining clubs. *1971 - Cincinnati Reds star Bobby Tolan ruptures his Achilles tendon while playing basketball. Tolan will miss the entire season and will never regain the form that he displayed in 1970, when he batted .316 and stole a league-leading 57 bases. 1980s *1981 - Cincinnati is the last major league club to enter the free agency market signing their first free-agent, OF Larry Biittner. Biittner will prove a bust and be released after the 1982 season. *1985 - Lou Brock and Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. During his career, Brock established the record for the most stolen bases in major league history –since broken by Rickey Henderson–, while the knuckleballing Wilhelm pitched in more games than any other major league pitcher. Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's total to the required 75%. 1990s *1991 - Pete Rose is released from federal prison in Marion, Illinois, after serving five months for tax evasion. He will now begin the second part of his sentence, consisting of 1,000 hours of community service at Cincinnati inner-city schools. *1992 - Starter Tom Seaver and reliever Rollie Fingers, two of the greatest pitchers of their generation, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. Between the two of them, they won or saved 767 games: Seaver had 311 wins and one save, while Fingers had 114 wins and 341 saves. *1993 - The Detroit Tigers sign 1B Cecil Fielder to a five-year $36 million contract, temporarily making him the highest paid player in the majors. *1994- The Texas Rangers sign free agent pitcher Jack Armstrong. Following arm trouble, Armstrong will retire at the end of the season. 2000 *2000 - Free agents signings include P Andy Benes by the Cardinals, 2B Scott Spiezio by the Angels, and OF F.P. Santangelo by the Dodgers. *2002 - The Arizona Diamondbacks obtain submarine–style RP Mike Myers from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for two prospects. *2005: **Boston Red Sox owner, John Henry, calls Doug Mientkiewicz to discuss the defensive replacement’s possession of the game ball caught at first base for the last out of the 2005 World Series. Larry Lucchino, the club’s president, has made it clear he wants the team to have ownership of the historic ball, which now resides in a safe deposit box along with back-up infielder's Olympic ring. **Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announces Major League Baseball and the Players Association will donate $1 million to help the victims of last month’s Indian Ocean tsunami. *2006: **Baseball's world governing body has threatened to withdraw its sanctioning of the World Baseball Classic unless the George W. Bush administration allows Cuba to compete. **Final 2005 payrolls for the 30 major league teams, as determined by the commissioner's office. Figures include salaries and pro-rated shares of signing bonuses for players on August 31 rosters and disabled lists. In some cases, parts of salaries deferred without interest are discounted to reflect present-day values. The New York Yankees finished last year with a record $207.2 million payroll, more than $90 million ahead of any other team, according to final figures compiled by the commissioner's office. **The Toronto Blue Jays trade Corey Koskie to the Milwaukee Brewers for a minor league pitcher. The third baseman became expendable after the Blue Jays acquired slugger Troy Glaus last month. **Relief pitcher Chris Reitsma and the Atlanta Braves avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.75 million, one-year contract. **Pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim stayed with the Colorado Rockies, agreeing to a one-year contract. **Shortstop Justin Upton, the top pick in the 2005 major league amateur draft, agreed to a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks that includes a $6.1 million signing bonus payable over five years. **Veteran ptcher Al Leiter agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. **First baseman J.T. Snow and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract on Friday. **The minimum salary for players in the major leagues is rising $11,000 this year to $327,000. Births *1865 - Dad Clarke, pitcher (d. 1911) *1875 - Kitty Bransfield, infielder (d. 1947) *1882 - Heinie Berger, pitcher (d. 1954) *1897 - Topper Rigney, infielder (d. 1972) *1900 - Johnny Grabowski, catcher (d. 1946) *1910 - Johnny McCarthy, infielder (d. 1973) *1913 - Johnny Mize, Hall of Fame infielder (d. 1993) *1922 - Alvin Dark, All-Star infielder and manager *1924 - Jim Pendleton, outfielder (d. 1996) *1935 - Dick Schofield, infielder *1938 - Fred Whitfield, infielder *1940 - Jim Hannan, pitcher *1942 - Jim Lefebvre, All-Star infielder and manager *1945 - Tony Conigliaro, All-Star outfielder (d. 1990) *1950 - Ross Grimsley, All-Star pitcher *1962 - Jeff Montgomery, All-Star pitcher *1963 - Craig Shipley, infielder *1971 - Frank Menechino, infielder *1975 - Jorge Toca, manager *1976 - Eric Gagné, All-Star pitcher *1976 - Alfonso Soriano, All-Star infielder *1978 - Kevin Mench, outfielder *1982 - Brayan Peña, catcher *1982 - Francisco Rodríguez, All-Star pitcher *1983 - Edwin Encarnación, infielder Deaths *1913 - Honest Jack Boyle, catcher/first baseman (b. 1866) *1944 - George Mullin, pitcher (b. 1880) *1970 - Jumbo Elliot, pitcher (b. 1900) *1978 - George Burns, first baseman (b. 1893)